TSA prepares for ‘busiest Thanksgiving ever’

The Thanksgiving holiday rush approached its full stride at U.S. airports on Tuesday, testing travelers’ patience.

The Transportation Security Administration is expected to screen more than 2.8 million people on Tuesday and 2.9 million on Wednesday after handling more than 2.5 million people on Monday.

Things seemed to go relatively smoothly at most airports considering the large crowds.

By early evening Tuesday on the East Coast, only about 70 U.S. flights had been canceled, but more than 3,200 had been delayed. Airlines averaged about 4,500 daily flight delays over the previous three days, according to tracking service FlightAware.

On the ground, there were a few low-speed impacts at Boston Logan International Airport. An American Airlines plane pulling into a gate touched the wingtips of a parked Frontier Airlines plane Monday, but no injuries were reported. On Monday night, a tugboat towing an empty JetBlue plane hit a Cape Air plane and two Cape Air pilots were taken to a hospital as a precaution, according to an airport spokesman.

Eyes on the sky

An arctic blast in the Midwest and wet weather in the eastern US could disrupt travel the next few days.

A storm system moving across the West Coast was forecast to bring heavy snow Wednesday to the Intermountain West, including the Rockies in Colorado, the Bitterroot Range in Idaho and Montana and the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For Thanksgiving Day, forecasters expect clear weather across the western two-thirds of the country, but a mix of rain and snow from Michigan and Ohio through New England.

Temperatures were in the high 30s in Chicago on Tuesday, but Kristy Vincent of Houston was fine as she landed at O’Hare Airport.

“I’m so excited. There’s no snow. I’m not going to freeze to death,” Vincent said, adding that she was “a little worried” about weekend forecasts calling for highs in the 20s.

Thanksgiving, by the numbers

The automobile club and insurer AAA predict that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday. Most of them will travel by car.

Drivers should get a little break gas prices. The nationwide average price of gasoline was $3.07 per gallon. gallon Tuesday, down from $3.25 this time last year.

However, airfares are about 4.1% higher than they were a year ago, according to government figures.

The Transport Safety Agency expects to screen 18.3 million people in US airports during the same seven-day stretch. That would be 6% more than the corresponding days last year, but fits a pattern set throughout 2024.

The TSA predicts that 3 million people will pass through airport security checkpoints on Sundays; more than that could beat the record of 3.01 million set the Sunday after the Fourth of July holiday. Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the next busiest air travel days of Thanksgiving week.

FAA staffing shortages can create delays

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said his agency is ready with its highest staffing ever, but an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration could cause flight delays.

FAA Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week that his agency will likely use special measures to deal with shortages at some facilities.

“If we are short staffed, we will slow down traffic as needed to keep the system safe,” he said.

For the past two years, similar measures have slowed flights New York City and Florida.

The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of controllers that airline officials expect will last for years, despite the agency’s lofty hiring goals.

Fury over fees

A Senate panel used the busy travel period to issue a report blasting airlines over what it calls “junk fees” and announced it will call executives from five airlines to explain why they charge these extra fees.

Airline fees have grown for nearly two decades, starting with extra fees to check bags and spreading to early boarding and other perks.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said Tuesday that American, Delta, United, Frontier and Spirit raised $12.4 billion in fees for better seats between 2018 and 2023. Passengers paid extra to get more legroom or an aisle or window seat.

“As we enter the Thanksgiving weekend, we regret that travelers will be charged millions of dollars in fees that have no basis in cost to the airlines, but merely fatten their bottom lines,” said the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D – Conn.

Airlines for America, the leading trade group for major US carriers, dismissed the report as “just another talking point for holiday travel.”

The group said fees give consumers the choice to pay for the services they want and skip the ones they don’t. It said that after accounting for inflation, the average U.S. round trip including fees fell 14% from 2010 to 2023.

Turkey on the plane

The TSA says it’s OK to bring turkey, stuffing and other favorite holiday foods through airport checkpoints, although liquids such as gravy and cranberry sauce cannot exceed 3.4 ounces.

Just because you can carry it on the plane doesn’t mean you should.

“Especially when it comes to gravy, I wouldn’t want it in my carry-on and I certainly wouldn’t want it in my checked bag,” TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said.

Thanksgiving brings out infrequent flyers, and they often have questions about what to bring on the plane. The TSA app and website has lists of items that are prohibited or restricted.

Driving time

Drivers should know that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon will be the worst times to travel by car, but it should be smooth sailing on Thanksgiving Day highways, according to transportation analytics firm INRIX.

On the return trip, the best travel times for motorists are before 13.00 Sunday, and before 8.00 or after 19.00 Monday, the company states.

In metropolitan areas such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington, “traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day,” said INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue.

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Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago and Mike Householder in Romulus, Michigan contributed to this report.